Swede Fritters with Red Pesto

Soak the spelt overnight in cold water. The next day, cook the spelt in the soaking water with the vegetable stock for about 90 minutes. Make sure that the spelt is soft.

Wash and peel the rutabagas and cut into 1 cm cubes, add to the spelt and cook for 10 minutes. Drain the spelt and rutabagas and leave to drain well in a fine-mesh sieve. Peel and finely dice the onion. Wash the parsley, shake dry and chop finely. Heat the butter in a small pan and sauté the onion in the butter. Stir in the parsley. Add the spelt with the turnips, mashing the turnips a little. Put everything in a bowl, add the eggs and the quark and knead with the semolina. Season well and add more semolina or flour as needed.

For the pesto, toast the pine nuts in a pan without fat until golden brown. Remove and set aside. Score the tomatoes crosswise, scald, rinse in cold water, skin, remove the seeds and finely dice the flesh. Peel the onion and garlic and chop very finely. Wash the basil leaves, shake dry and cut into fine strips. Heat the olive oil in a small pan and sauté the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the diced tomatoes and simmer over a low heat for 10 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan and the basil strips and season with salt, pepper and lemon juice.

With wet hands, shape the turnip mixture into fritters and fry them in hot clarified butter for 3-4 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Serve immediately with the lukewarm or cold pesto.